Speakers in Stanley and Skiers in Utah

Christmas Break was short for us this year: we are used to a 2 or 3-week break, and this year we only got 12 days off of school. It just didn't seem long enough!

Our annual trip to Stanley to visit the Forsgren's was on the weekend following Christmas. We went down on Saturday afternoon and stayed about 24 hours. When we arrived, the big cousins were just heading out to go sledding in the last remaining bits of daylight, but we opted not to since we'd already gone 3 times that week! When they came back, Aunt Janet made delicious pizza for dinner. Aunt Linette & Uncle John brought Judson to visit this year the same time we were there, and we'd taken Malachi with us, so there was quite a crowd! After dinner, we played the game "Telestrations" with several of the Forsgren kids, and had a hilarious time! I wanted that game SOOO bad for Christmas! On Black Friday, I looked for it everywhere it was on sale, but all were sold out. I have looked for it since, but not have not been successful in finding it (at a reasonable price). We had so much fun playing it together! That night, Ammon slept at the Forsgren's house, and the younger 3 boys slept in the hotel room with Josh and I (it's right next door to their house and country store).

The next morning was Sunday, and the 3 older boys wore some of their new clothes they'd received for Christmas to church. They looked so handsome standing by the beautiful view as seen from our hotel!

Josh and I were the speakers at church that morning. I talked about Tender Mercies (re-using the bulk of the same talk I'd given in August in our home ward, but relating different experiences this time), and Josh spoke about agency and responsibility. Malachi was the musical number, singing a song he'd written himself as he accompanied himself on the guitar. It was really neat, and I enjoyed all of church in Stanley. After church, we had a family get-together back at Janet's house. The boys played ping pong, I helped work on Uncle Ben's puzzle, and the ladies worked in the kitchen to make another delicious meal (funny enough, it was ham and potatoes, which we'd had every day since Christmas because we'd made so much there was a lot of leftovers! When we got to my mom's house later that same evening, she said "Would you like some ham and potatoes for dinner?" And my boys all groaned! It's my favorite meal in the world, but they were so happy when the ham and potatoes week was over).

We ate and visited for a bit before packing up and leaving for Utah to visit my family. It took a lot longer than I remember it being to drive from Stanley to Tremonton: about 5 hours! This was the first trip we'd taken together in our Suburban. We brought the Hobbit movies with us, because they are so long, so we thought it would be good for the boys to watch them on the drive. However, it was the first time we'd tried to use the built-in DVD player, and couldn't figure out how to get the sound other than through the cordless headphones (there was only 2 headphones and 4 boys). I read the manuals and couldn't get anything to project the sound, so they just had to share the headphones (which wasn't ideal). After we reached the Utah border, we encountered a white-out storm. It was dark by that time, the roads were slick and the snow was coming down thick. There were several slide-offs and Josh was white-knuckling it for a while, but thankfully we finally made it to Tremonton that evening, and all of us were happy to be out of the car!

We'd planned on going skiing with my dad the next day on Monday, but he wasn't feeling very well, and he decided to not go with us. Jen and her 3 older girls had been planning on joining us, though, so we met up with them at their house in Logan before heading up Logan Canyon to Beaver Mountain for afternoon skiing. This was the first time we'd all been together as a family skiing & snowboarding because this was the first time that Kanyon's come with us. We signed him up for snowboard lessons, and he was so excited (especially after practicing on Uncle Malachi's snowboard sled). 

Micah got to use his skis for the first time, and both he and Jonah did really well remembering a lot of what they learned last year when they went for the first time.

Jonah & Micah waiting in line for the ski lift.
We like that Beaver has 3-rider lifts!

They're both wearing their new goggles & hats they got from Christmas.
Tim & Barb gave them the hats: Micah's says "Dude" and Jonah's says "Boss". 

Josh thought if he wore all yellow he'd be easy to spot on the slopes. And he was!
But apparently another guy thought the same thing, so there were 2 men in all-yellow!

I love skiing! It was super cold, so I'm glad I bundled up!

Ammon went snowboarding, and hung out with Aspen and Liberty mostly, as Josh and I went skiing with the twins until Kanyon's lessons were done.

Ammon's all-new snowboarding wardrobe that he got
for Christmas: coat, pants, gloves, and helmet!!
I think he looks totally awesome!!

We were so happy to go with cousins Liberty, Abbie, and Aspen!

By the end of Kanyon's lesson, he was freezing! He was so cold, he was shivering. His instructor had taken him up to the ski lift for the first time, and they were about halfway down the mountain when she noticed him shaking, so she lifted him up and carried him the rest of the way as she snowboarded to the lodge. I took him inside and warmed him up by the fire and got him some warm food and drinks. The boys had also taken a break right before that inside, and good thing too, as Ammon was already exhibiting some white/gray marks on his nose from exposure to cold. Thankfully, they all warmed up, and felt better and returned to the slopes without permanent damage. Josh went with the twins some more on the ski lift, and Ammon went with Aspen again, but I just stayed on the bunny hill with Kanyon working on his newly acquired skills.

We all had a good time, and were glad that we were able to go together (we talked about going a second day, too, but decided to return home to Salmon the following day as Ammon had a basketball practice that night). We stopped at Mick & Jen's house again when we got to Logan, and ate dinner and hung out with them for a while. It was nice to relax and catch up with them. Our kids get along so good, and I'm always grateful for opportunities for the boys to spend time with their cousins!

That night, we drove back to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Tremonton, and we watched the light show at the Tremonton Center. I love it so much! I like how they add new songs and new light displays every year to it. It's a fabulous half-hour show! My favorite is "Blue Christmas" by Elvis, and I'm glad that is one song that has remained every year.

The boys worked on a puzzle while we were at Grandma's that Grandpa had gotten for Christmas of Ralph and scenes from the movie "A Christmas Story". We left their house on Tuesday afternoon, but were unable to finish the puzzle before we left. My mom texted me a few days later to say it was finally done and that my dad had actually helped her put it together, too! ;)

Josh was able to figure out the whole DVD sound issue in the car, so thankfully the boys were able to watch the newest Hobbit movie with sound being transmitted through the radio's speakers on the 4 1/2 hour drive back to Salmon!

This was our only trip we took over Christmas Break this year, and it was a good one. We were so glad to spend quality time with members of both of our families, creating lasting memories playing and skiing together!